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Most of my photographs at the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business are a work of collaboration. This particular project was no different.

My work for Bauer runs in one of four main ways…web galleries, social media, collateral and/or printed in a magazine. These photographs were instead created to be run mainly as a video for the #IAmBauer campaign.

I’m not exactly sure how all of the initial plans came together. By the time I was involved, I was shown a few sample video clips and asked to photograph Bauer faculty, staff and students for a similar style video. My first though upon seeing the sample was that I needed to attempt to photograph the subject in a Martin Schoeller-esque way…raw and real. In the end, the lighting and facial expressions were the only things actually used to mimic a Martin Schoeller portrait. We instead opted to use a dark backdrop, a less shallow depth of field, a wider crop and a longer zoom. But in essence, I think they had a touch of the same feel to those portraits that I admire so.

I photographed probably 50+ people over the span of a few days to display the diversity that is Bauer…people of all ages, ethnicities, walks of life, religions, and so on.

I was really happy with how the photographs turned out. I think the collaborative process helped make all of our visions for this project come to fruition.

To truly appreciate these photographs though, you need to see the video, the final product, below. Props to my friend Charles Propst, Jr. for his amazing talent in storytelling through filmmaking.

This summer, I took on a new challenge while trying to get more involved with my church (Second Baptist Church Houston). I signed up to be a condo leader on the church’s high school Beach Retreat in Pensacola, FL. I’ve always heard great things about how lives are changed each year at the retreat, so I threw my name in the hat hoping that I too might make a difference in even one kid’s life.

I was pretty nervous going into the trip, because I had never been a chaperone of any kind in the past. But alas, I survived!

The trip there and back was two full days on a bus, with many bus rides in between. We had some sun and rain, and lots and lots of sand. I saw laughter and tears, high-fives and hugs.

The best part of the trip though, was witnessing lives being changed. Over 450 high school students (and a few adults too) made professions of faith and were baptized. It was a beautiful thing to witness!

Being a photographer, I, of course, couldn’t leave home without my camera. So I have quite a nice collection of photos to share from the trip.

Enjoy!

SILENT SOUNDS

BEACH AND BAY PLAY

ON THE MOVE

WORSHIP

THE MESSAGE AND RESPONSE

BAPTISM

CELEBRATION

If you need photography at your next event in Houston or beyond, contact me, Nicki, to set up your event photography. nicki@nevansphotos.com

On May 15th, I spent the day providing media coverage for the Greenlight for Girls (g4g) event at Space Center Houston. The event was held to spark interest with girls (ranging from middle school to early high school age) in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through the international g4g program. On hand to help with the event were scientists, engineers and various volunteers from a local industry site.

Throughout the day, the girls participated in hands-on experiments and heard from a few guest speakers including Greenlight for Girls international project manager Jelena Lucin, U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee and retired NASA astronaut Brian Duffy.

Enjoy these photos from the event.

If you need photography at your next event in Houston or beyond, contact me, Nicki, to set up your event photography. nicki@nevansphotos.com

There are a lot of elements that play a part in first impressions, and those factors vary from meeting someone in person versus “meeting” them online.

When meeting in person, your appearance plays a part in that first impression, as well as your handshake, eye contact, attentiveness to the conversation and your social skills. On a job interview, for example, those items probably end up playing a stronger role in the meeting than what’s on your resume. Your resume probably landed you the interview, but you can’t pass “Go” or collect 200 dollars without making a good impression at the interview.

In this day of instant access to information via the Internet, the first impression you made on that hiring manager or future client or soon-to-be new co-worker could have been made far before that interview. It could have been made through a quick search on LinkedIn. So what did that first impression say?

Hopefully you’ve had your resume reviewed and you spell-check everything before posting your bio, employment history and list of accomplishments. And to put the cherry on top, you’ve made the investment in an executive portrait by a professional photographer. If so, the first thought when your name pops up on LinkedIn is, “Now, he is someone I’d like to have on my team,” or maybe, “If this person has the same level of professionalism that her profile exudes, I’d love to do business with her.”

I know that looks aren’t everything and you can’t judge a book by its cover, but with just a few seconds and a first glimpse on a LinkedIn profile, you certainly don’t want to risk deterring a future employee or potential client in any way with a sloppy profile photo or no image at all.

If you don’t invest in yourself and your career, why should someone invest in you?

Benefit Concepts, Inc. recently invested in executive portraits with Nicki Evans Photography for their teams across Houston. During a day-long conference at the Norris Conference Center in City Centre, we setup a temporary portrait studio where team members could stop by to have their portrait made…57 in total. In addition to providing head shots that team members could use on their LinkedIn pages, the MyBCITeam.com team pages were updated to include these portraits.

If you haven’t made the investment in an executive portrait for your individual LinkedIn page, or if your business needs to boost the image they project with portraits on the “About Us” page, contact me, Nicki, to set up your portraits. nicki@nevansphotos.com

Just before Christmas, my favorite project at the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business was finished and released in print form…the latest issue of Inside Bauer Magazine.

With this magazine, and all of the previous ones for which I’ve had the pleasure of contributing images, I had the opportunity to meet a variety of amazing people with incredible stories. My job is capturing those people in their element and/or putting those stories into visuals.

The theme for this issue was “Service in Action.” The people of Bauer, whether new student or tenured professor, all have such hearts for giving. Some donate their time by working at summer camps or tutoring other students, some donate their athletic abilities by cycling cross country or teaching boxing, some donate money to fund scholarships. There’s never a shortage of people lending helping hands to those who are in need.

To read some of these stories and see videos featuring the great people of Bauer, check out the new Inside Bauer Magazine website. There are quite a few photos on the website as well, but for a few of my favorites, enjoy the rest of the blog.

Even though I’d love to help out each charitable cause that comes my way, it’s just not possible to do so while also running a business and providing quality work for each client. I’ve found the best way for me and my business to give back to the community it to truly give from the heart.

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity;
for God loves a cheerful giver.”2 Corinthians 9:7

One cause that really speaks to my heart is “Flashes of Hope.” This groups “honors the courage of children with cancer by capturing a moment in time and funding research so they will have the chance to create a lifetime of memories.” About this time last year, I joined ASMP for various professional benefits and found that the local Houston chapter of ASMP is very active with Flashes of Hope (FOH). I applied to be a volunteer photographer and was soon accepted to the MD Anderson chapter. Just a few days before Halloween, I had the opportunity to photograph my first group of kids for this great organization.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but the whole day it felt like I was photographing your average kid from the local elementary or high school. By their big smiles, happy demeanor and wonderful families who laughed along with my corny jokes and goofy faces, you’d never know that these kids were sick.

It made me happy to see all of them in such good spirits. At the same time, it broke my heart to know that these kids were in fact sick. I hope when I return to photograph again at MD Anderson, I’ll hear that all of these kids are well and in remission. After listening to the stories from the other volunteers, I know that won’t necessarily be the case. But at least I know that through the great work Flashes of Hope is doing, more and more cancer research is being funded each day, and the families who participate will go home with beautiful photographs of their children to cherish for a lifetime.

Take a moment and look at these photographs, say a prayer of healing for these kids, and if you have a little extra to give back this Christmas season, consider giving to Flashes of Hope or another cause near and dear to your heart.

Always board. Never bored. Part 2 – Slaying the best of both worlds
by Houston commercial photographer – Nicki Evans Photography

When I began searching for wake boarders to participate in my “Always board. Never bored.” project, Brandon was one of the first riders to respond. After chatting with Brandon a few times, I knew we were cut from the same cloth. We share the same love for water…that deep, unexplainable Moby Dick attraction to H20.

I actually had quite a few responses to my initial search for wake boarders, but finding people was less of a problem than making schedules align on days when the weather was nice. It happened that both fell into place on a Saturday in August when SMG Wake (where Brandon works) was hosting a demo day at the San Bernard River in conjunction with Liquid Rides and the Boomstick.

When I arrived at the party, there were tons of boats and people ready for a good time. I hopped on the new Malibu 25 LSV that SMG was demoing and got to hang out with Brandon and a rotating crew of riders for the afternoon. I made a few shots of some guys wake boarding, and a few of people wake surfing, before I was able to catch a set behind the boat. Such a fun ride (and bonus of photographing wake boarding)!

Then, just a few minutes before sunset, Brandon had a chance to strap on a board and take a set. With no real warmup at all, he was throwing some big hits and tearing up the river. His aggressive style and the soft evening light were the perfect combination for a few great shots! Unfortunately, a storm was rolling in, so it got dark quickly and we had to head in.

Since Brandon is both an avid boat and cable rider, we decided to get together for more photographs at Hangar 9 in Conroe, where he often rides after work. We booked a day in October, and I arrived a couple of hours before Brandon, so I could play on the cable lake awhile. Then it was time to get to work. Well, who am I kidding? Photographing wake boarders is more play than work to me 😉

Since I’d shot with Parker at Hangar 9 a few months back, I wanted to try to get some new angles in my shots. In addition to the detail and straight-forward action shots, I used the towers from the cable to frame Brandon on a few shots, got a ride to the middle of the lake on the coolest barge ever (it had a built-in picnic table) to get closer to a few rails and then tried out my waterproof bag for a few in-water shots. And then, since I’m a sucker for a good sunset, I had to get a few shots as the day came to an end.

For quite a few years I’ve wanted to attend the Great Texas Balloon Race in Longview, TX. Every year, when it finally shows up on my radar, I realize I already have something planned for that weekend and can’t make it. So last year, as soon as I knew the 2016 dates, I went ahead and put it on my calendar.

As the weekend approached, the weather was a little questionable. But since it was only about a 20-30% chance of rain, my husband and I decided to go ahead and make the trip. We arrive Saturday midday, visited some family, grabbed a Jucys Burger (famous in East Texas) then headed over to the airport early to make sure we had good access to the balloon glow.

The balloon glow was my main reason for wanting to attend this event. I’ve always thought the sight of hot air balloons against a blue sky was beautiful. But to see them all lit up at night…I was like a kid in a candy store, just thinking about the beautiful photos I would make.

As we approached the airport, the sky was starting to cloud up a bit, but the forecast still looked to be in our favor. We parked and began walking in, only to reach the gate and find out the balloon glow had been canceled. Long story, short…we ended up being stuck in a parking lot during a thunderstorm for about an hour, trying to exit the airport with not much luck, and we didn’t get to see the balloon glow.

We were both pretty disappointed but still wanted to make the best of the weekend. We decided to wake up early Sunday morning to watch the actual balloon race, so we could at least see some balloons. I’m not much of an early riser. I rise for wake boarding, vacation and taking photos…that’s it. This early morning turned out to be worth it though, because I was able to experience something new and photograph it too.

It took a few minutes before we began seeing balloons. This was the lone balloon for quite a while. He led the race by quite a large span.
Then, before you knew it, there were about 30 balloons all heading our direction.
As a sidebar to the race, a target drop is held along the “racetrack.” Each balloon pilot tries to drop a marker in a target area for extra prize money. If they are really on track, they can try their hand at tossing a ring onto a pole for even more money.
As I was photographing this balloon, I noticed something wasn’t quite right. Then I heard the crowd start chattering and gasping a bit. The balloon was on fire. In the few seconds where there were actual flames, I was thinking like a photojournalist + getting a little scared that this balloon was going to engulf in flames and fall out of the sky right in front of me + praying that this guy would be okay. Luckily, prayers were answered, and the fire was gone quickly. The pilot made a safe landing a few hundred yards away. It was a bit scary for a few seconds though.
On a happier note, there was a penguin-shaped balloon. Now you’re smiling, right?
Hope you enjoyed my trip to the Great Texas Balloon Race. Maybe I’ll have to add the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta to my travel list next.

Home is where…, Part 2-The oysters are harvested
by Houston commercial photographer – Nicki Evans Photography

With a large part of Chambers County touching Trinity and/or Galveston Bays, it’s no wonder that so many people who call this county home have jobs related to the water and seafood. So the first installment of “Home is where…” features Jeri’s Seafood.

Jeri’s Seafood, based in Smith Point, began in 1970. Since then, multiple generations of the Nelson family have worked in the business on Galveston Bay harvesting oysters and practicing sustainability of the local reefs.

At Jeri’s Seafood, the day begins around 5:30 a.m., when employees arrive to head out to the reefs or begin shucking and packaging oysters. With little light (no sunlight at all), bucket after bucket of ice is loaded onto the boats that will go out to the reefs in Galveston Bay. During the summer months, trips to the reef are short because of the heat.

Close to 6 a.m., when the sky is just beginning to lighten up, the boats leave for the bay.
About the same time, another crew works on moving bags of oysters between trailers and a giant drive-in freezer.
Inside, men dressed in hoodies (because it’s cold in there) and rubber boots line counters from one wall to the next shucking piles and piles of oysters. Pop the shell, drop the oyster into a bucket of water and knock the shell into a crate on the floor.
After about 30-40 minutes of shucking, the crates of empty shells begin to fill up. Two guys begin emptying the crates into the bucket of a forklift, so those shucking oysters never have to stop the process.

After the forklift bucket fills up, the oyster shells are then taken outside, much to the happiness of waiting seagulls, where they are poured into a dump truck. Later these oysters will be returned to the bay to help sustain the reefs.
Around 6:15 a.m., the first full buckets of raw oysters are being sent to the next point in the assembly line for washing, sorting, weighing and packaging.
Once the oysters are placed into buckets for delivery, they are sealed, placed in boxes and then covered in ice until it’s time to be loaded onto an 18-wheeler.
The sun has now been out for about 15 minutes. Some people are probably just leaving for work or maybe even waking up, and the well-oiled machine that is Jeri’s Seafood is already on a roll for the day.
Stay tuned for the next installment of “Home is where…” Hopefully there will be a second part to the Jeris’ Seafood blog, when I have a chance to ride out to the reefs.

Home is where…, Part 1
by Houston commercial photographer – Nicki Evans Photography

It seems that many people (who grow up in small towns) want to get away from their hometown as soon as they have a chance. Many of them say it’s because there’s nothing to do. They want to see “bigger and better” things.

I always had a tiny desire to live in loft apartment in a big city, most likely inspired by the TV show “Friends.” But my desire was never based on wanting to escape my small-town life, just the chance to do something new and different.

Deep down though, I’ve always been a hometown girl. I loved growing up in a small town. I didn’t think of it so much as a type of lifestyle; I was just having fun being a kid. In hindsight, I know that most of the things I got to do as a kid are not the norm for kids in a big city…or probably not even in most smaller towns today.

We used to ride bikes from one house to the next, stopping to jump on one friend’s trampoline or take a swim in another one’s pool. We cruised around town on go-carts, scrounging up change from couches and laundry baskets to buy a pint of ice cream or a can of Spaghetti-Os at Hill’s Grocery (just for an excuse to drive the go-cart to the store). We fished and had mud wars. We roller bladed while pretending to be Nancy Kerrigan and attempted roller hockey. Other than occasionally stopping to play Donkey Kong on the Super Nintendo, we were rarely indoors.

As we got older and began to drive, whole new realms of fun opened up, as we could now hook up to the boat and go wake boarding any time. After that, summers and weekends revolved completely around the water…lifeguarding at the wave pool some days, wake boarding in “The Channel” at Fort Anahuac Park or occasionally taking a day trip down to the beach.

I guess I’m getting a little sidetracked while reliving my childhood. The point of the story and this blog series is to showcase my hometown, Anahuac, and the county, Chambers, where I grew up and spent the majority of the first 2.5 decades of my life.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered that aside from being a place where you can have a pretty great childhood, there’s so much more to Chambers County…incredible people with stories to tell, lots of history, a variety of industries and beautiful scenery.

There are about 14 cities or communities that make up the county: Anahuac, Double Bayou, Oak Island, Smith Point, Monroe City, Stowell, Winnie, Wallisville, Hankamer, Cove, Beach City, Old River-Winfree, Mont Belvieu and parts of Baytown. The people in these communities are fisherman, farmers, ranchers and hunting guides. Some people raise gators or longhorns, some harvest oysters, some fly crop-dusters, some help conserve the marshes and wildlife within. And some do a little bit of it all.

For a few years (maybe more), I’ve had it in the back of my mind to do a photo series featuring all of those stories in Chambers County. This summer, I finally decided to stop thinking about it and just make it happen. The photo series, “Home is where…” will hopefully be one that continues for a long time, with blog posts as frequent as possible, depending on when I can fit these little adventures into my schedule. I hope to learn more about the place I call home and meet more people who can tell me their stories. And above all, I hope to tell these stories through my photographs.